Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Betul Nagar Nigam chairman Alkesh Arya has no qualms in saying ‘Har har Modi, ghar ghar Modi’ while talking about the department’s latest work. “We are not leaving any stone unturned to complete the process of the first phase. It’s the matter of pride for us. A total of 1,500 houses would see such tiles at Betul town,” Arya said

At present, 1.19 lakh houses have already been built under PMAY across the state and tenders have been floated for supply of tiles to municipal bodies. The urban administration department’s April 4 order to this effect says, “Two tiles measuring 450x600 mm and bearing photos of Prime Minister and chief minister- one at the main gate and the other above platform in the kitchen have to be fixed in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Shahri-2022)’s housing units.” “Such tiles are mostly manufactured in Gujarat”, said a senior department officer requesting anonymity.

Ramlal Saket, a beneficiary of the housing scheme, said he had no qualms in living in a house that had tiles bearing the PM and CM’s pictures. “ I own a concrete structure of bricks now and have no problem with a tile or two bearing PM and CM’s photos.”

Calling the move a part of BJP’s election campaign, Congress’s media in charge Manak Agrawal said: “This is clearly the BJP’s election agenda ahead of the assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections next year.”

However, state’s minister for urban administration development Maya Singh defended the move, stating: “The PM and CM want to see roof on everybody’s head. The people themselves want such tiles in their houses.”